Joel McHale goes back to school

Joel McHale’s having a big week. “The Soup” host appears in the new Matt Damon film “The Informant!” opening Friday and his new NBC comedy “Community” starts at 9:30 p.m. WEEKEND’s Cory Barker and Chad Quandt recently had the opportunity to participate in a conference call with McHale, who discussed, among other things, the amazing comedic performers around him on “Community” and his future on “The Soup.”

On transitioning from playing himself to playing a character:
With any acting role you have to kind of go “How do I relate to this person and how do I communicate who this person is on screen?” “How is he similar to me?” I did everything I could not to work hard in school because I was much more interested in acting and trying to do that. And I always felt like I was just kind of clocking time at school until I could get out and do something and perform. It’s fun to play a guy who’s kind of reckless in how he approached life in that he just did what he wanted to do. People kind of let him get by with it. This is the first time that he actually has to do work. And it’s a change in his world completely.

On living up to the expectation of success:
The only thing that I can really control is that I look at the scripts and I say “How do I serve these jokes properly and tell the story of the script?” All we can do is deliver on the scripts and then it’s up to the editor. All I can literally control is just telling the jokes as well as they can be told and telling the stories. So in that sense I don’t feel much pressure at all. What it comes down to is that people watch it and they like it and then it will stay on the air.

On the amazing ensemble of actors working on community:
Every one of those guys – from Donald Glover to Danny Pudi to Alison Brie and Gillian Jacobs and Yvette Nicole Brown to Chevy (Chase) to Jim Rash to John Oliver to Ken Jeong – they all have the skills of an improviser, some of the best improvising I have ever seen. And on top of that the scripts are terrific. So it’s not like the scripts need any help. We could just do the scripts as is but the guys being who they are and the gals, they can reel stuff off.

On his future with “The Soup”:
I’m still doing “The Soup.” I’m actually in New York right now promoting “The Informant!” and “Community” and I’m going to do “The Soup” from New York. We’ve worked out the contract and the schedule so that I can do both. To NBC and E! — I am eternally grateful that they could accommodate it. I’m so happy and proud to be on “Community” and so excited to do what I’ve always wanted to do, which is act and do that stuff and at the same time do the job that I just have so much fun doing. “The Soup” staff is one of the best. And they’re all my friends.

On being mistaken for E! co-hort Ryan Seacrest:
When (my son) would see Ryan Seacrest on the air, my wife would go, “Hey Eddie, who’s on the TV right now?” And he would go, “Daddy.” Ryan is a very handsome man so I take that as a great compliment. Sure, he’s 4’11,” but still.